Passion

Most people wouldn’t connect those attributes with a job hunt, but employment experts say they are exactly what are needed for a successful job interview.

Especially passion.

“Passion is important because in any job interview you have to be persuasive- and you can demonstrate that emphatically by showing your passion for the job,” said Gregory D. Hayes, executive director of the career services center at the University of Dayton.

“Show your passion by talking about your experience, education and skills with a clear love of what you do and want to do.”

Hayes, who has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in education, has been in career services and human resources since 1972. Over the years, he has seen the positive effects of being positive.

“Passion shows your love of the business you’re in,”

he emphasized. “It is a mean of convincing the job interviewer this is the job you really want to do – and that you can do it.”

The director, who has a staff of 12, says he specifically looks for job seekers who convey passion about heir work during interviews.

“Most candidates don’t have it,” Hayes said. “If I talk to five deadbeat people and have one who is upbeat, that’s the one I’m going to hire. I don’t find it offensive for people to talk about their passion for their field or profession. I interpret their enthusiasm as a since love of what they do and that they really want to do it. It’s a convincing argument.”

Hayes says he knows firsthand the power of passion in job interview. “From the feedback I got afterwards, I know I got all my jobs because of my passion for what I do,” he said. “I prepared thoroughly, researched each company and articulated my skills in a convincing and positive way. I like career services. I can talk about it all day. And I talk about it with passion and try to communicate the fact that it excites me to help people find jobs.”

At the university center, Hayes videotapes mock interviews with students seeking employment and then plays the tape back and analyzes it.

“I always urge them to state exactly why they want the job and to say it with passion,” he said. “Being passionate about what you do can be a deciding factor in getting a job.”

During the years he worked as an accountant, financial consultant and human resource manager, James F. Fitzgerald hired thousands of people, he says. Since 1996, Fitzgerald has been chairman of the board of Career Transitions Center of Chicago, a non-profit organization that gives support in finding jobs to administrative, professional and managerial people.

And passion for the job always is a plus, according to Fitzgerald, who has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s in industrial relations. “Enthusiasm for the work and excitement for the challenge and the opportunity to solve any problems the potential employer has – that makes you stand out from other people who have the same skills,” Fitzgerald says.

He suggests that to prepare for the interview, you should “talk to yourself in advance and say, “I love this business!” Employers want to hire people who feel as passionate as they do about the work .

But he does advise a bit of restraint. “The real challenge is to be enthusiastic without sounding desperate,” Fitzgerald said. “And don’t be gushy.”

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